Capito launches new TV ads

UPDATE (11:10): An advertisement for Rep. Shelley Moore Capito appearing on West Virginia airwaves this morning is not the ad the campaign announced in a press release today.

The campaign for Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., released a different ad this week that’s airing on TV stations today.

The ad appearing on local TV stations is 30-seconds long and focuses almost entirely on attacking Capito’s opponent, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant.

The Capito campaign purchased airtime this week with Charleston-based stations WOWK and WCHS, Wheeling station WTRF and Ohio station WTOV, according to records with the Federal Communications Commission. All of the spots are for 30 seconds; the length of the ad mentioned in the campaign’s press release is 60 seconds.

The campaign press release provides information about the content of the other ad–which focuses mostly on the congresswoman talking about coal and energy regulations–but provided little details about when the ad would appear, the cost of the airtime purchase or the stations where it will appear.

Capito campaign spokeswoman Amy Graham did not immediately respond to a question about whether it was the only ad airing for the Capito campaign.

The shorter ad also focuses on Tennant’s endorsement of President Barack Obama in previous presidential elections, mentioning the administrations’ “freedom-killing Obamacare.”

It says the president wants to limit gun ownership rights, panning to a picture of Tennant standing next to an Obama campaign sign.

“Obama tries to limit our rights to own a gun, and Tennant takes to the streets to campaign for him,” says a male narrator, with ominous music playing in the background.

“What else would you ever need to know about Natalie Tennant?”

The photo that appears during this portion of the ad is used frequently by Republicans. The original shows Tennant at the Obama campaign rally, holding the musket she used when serving as the Mountaineer mascot for West Virginia University.

This Capito ad covers Tennant holding the rifle with a larger picture of the Democrat’s face.

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ORIGINAL: In her latest television advertisement in the race for the U.S. Senate, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito relies heavily on what has become campaign’s standard argument: Capito supports coal and her opponent, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, does not.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., speaks with people who appear to be employed in the coal industry in the campaign’s first TV ad.

The Capito campaign released the ad, called “Fighting for the home team,” this morning. The spot is 1 minute, about twice the time of the typical campaign advertisement.

A Capito campaign spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions about how much air time was purchased, when the ad will air or the TV markets where it will be seen.

The ad starts with Capito addressing a group of men who appear to be employed in the coal industry: most are wearing “stripes,” the clothing with reflective stripes typically worn by underground miners. Capito says West Virginia families are afraid for the future, thanks in no part to a president “who doesn’t seem to care.” She continues:

The president’s come out with rules that say no new coal fired power plants. But what he’s going to come out with in next several months is you are not even going to be able to even burn coal very limitedly in the existing plants. And this is really going to hurt West Virginia.

The ad then turns dark (for a political ad), attacking Tennant for her endorsement of President Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 elections and saying the people financing her campaign are “some of the most radical anti-coal people in the country.”

Capito and national Republicans criticized Tennant for campaigning with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Tennant has said she doesn’t agree with Warren’s stance on coal but supports her message of fighting for the middles class and against “Wall Street.” (They also appreciated the $100,000 the senator reported helped drum up in Democratic fundraising for Tennant.)

The announcement comes days after Tennant released her first ad of the campaign. While Tennant says the ad shows she’ll stand up to the president and his policies on energy, the Capito camp calls it disingenuous.

The latest version of the West Virginia Poll, conducted in May, showed Capito had an 11-point edge over Tennant.